Thursday, October 1, 2015

Have You Seen What Ball® Has in Store This Year? (+ a giveaway)


Gardeners have been busy canning and preserving for the last few months and it's not over yet. Just this week, I pulled my beets for pickling, as I do each summer. It's one of our very favorite goodies from the garden. I've also got some Mexican gherkin cucumbers (they look like miniature watermelons!) that I'll be pickling for the first time this year.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/community/events/can-it-forward
Since 2010, Ball® has been celebrating the bounty of the garden with their annual Can-It-Forward day. Held in August, its intent is to help people with making the most of their garden produce. The Can-It-Forward pages have all kinds of wonderful tips and activities, including downloadable and printable labels for your jars.

Though we've never preserved the majority of what we grow (we eat it and share it with neighbors and family), when we do, Ball jars are what we do it in. We also use Ball® jars for our maple syrup we make in late winter.

http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/ball-heritage-collection-pint-jars-set-of-6/shop/632810/
This year, Ball® sent me some of their products to use and I was of course delighted to get the latest and final edition of the American Heritage Collection Series of jars, commemorating their 100th anniversary.  1913 saw the launch of the first true “Perfect Mason” jar followed in 1914 by the “PERFECTION,” then finally by “IMPROVED” in 1915. This year's jars are purple and follow the previous years' green and blue.

http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/ball-heritage-collection-pint-jars-set-of-6/shop/632810/


Photo by Jenna DeCraene
Also new this year are the Sip & Straw lids, which are pure genius. How many of us have used Ball® jars as drinking glasses? The Sip & Straw lids take it to another level and are just plain fun, for both kids and adults.

You just use regular rings (not included) and screw them over the lids, which do include sturdy reusable straws. They come in blue, red, or purple. You can use them on your regular Ball® jars or you can get jars with handles too.

Photo by Jenna DeCraene

http://www.freshpreservingstore.com/blue-book-guide-to-preserving/shop/633468/

I also received a copy of Ball's handy dandy Blue Book Guide to Preserving. It not only tells you how to do it, it also has over 500 recipes. This 37th edition, which is new this year, includes 75 new recipes.








Want some pretty purple jars of your very own?

If you've never used Ball® jars and for those of you who already do, here's a chance to win a set of six of this year's purple American Heritage Collection jars:

Just leave a comment on this blog post, telling me how you'll use the jars if you win (What will you can? Or will you use them for crafts?), as well as filling out the Rafflecopter form. You'll see bonus entry opportunities when you fill out the form, with a possible total of eight entries:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway entry period will run through midnight EDT, Sunday, October 4, 2015. A winner will be randomly chosen by Rafflecopter and notified via email. Good luck!


If you've never checked out all the valuable information on their website, you're in for a treat. Ball® knows canning!

UPDATE: Congratulations to Julie Thompson Adolph! Rafflecopter chose you as the winner! Thank you to all who entered, and happy canning!


___________________________
I received products from Ball®/Jarden Brands for the purpose of review. No other compensation has been given to me and all opinions expressed here are my own. I am an Amazon Affiliate and this blog post may contain affiliate links to Amazon.com.

15 comments:

Colleen said...

Will use to put dry pasta in, beans, etc. Or I may set on my dining table and put candles inside
Thank you for this opportunity

Donna@Gardens Eye View said...

I had no idea they were doing colors...I have antique blue and have seen green which I love, but purple is cool. And I love the book...will have to look it up and thanks for the giveaway!

Jenny said...

I'll be using them for storing food.

Shelley Adam said...

of course I LOVE the purple. Already have a set with almonds, walnuts, pecans, brazil nuts and crystallized ginger in them. Would LOVE to have more as I keep them on my counter.

Paula said...

Ooh, perfect for all the bits in our playroom

HKaye said...

I'd love to use it for my herbal bath salts for pretty gifts. But wouldn't a nice clear jelly be gorgeous?!

Joy said...

Looks so cool! I would use them to make yummy strawberry jelly. Always goes super fast.

Britt (pigbook1@gmail.com) said...

Refrigerator pickles are my go to for ball jars

Unknown said...

I will use as cups and drink lots of sweet tea out of them

JustCourtney &TyTom said...

I LOVE drinking out of Ball jars and the purple ones are so pretty!!

mrsjjdavis said...

I would use them at our oldest son's wedding for decorations.

Danielle said...

Yes, I would use them more around the house as decorations. I've seen these purple jars online and was going to purchase them but free would be better

RobinL said...

I think I'd spread them around. First of all, I have two purple-loving friends, so they'd each get one. The others I'd scatter around the house, using one as a vase in the kitchen, one to hold my makeup brushes in the bathroom, and the last one is the guest bedroom for flowers.

KMG said...

I would put homemade cosmetics and herbs inside and use the adorable labels. They would be Christmas gifts for friends and family!

Unknown said...

I have a few of the purple Ball Jars, and you know my favorite use for them (besides canning, of course)? Serving sangria and margaritas this summer! The purple jars are so festive and cute! I tied a little raffia bow around the rim, added colorful straws, and served cocktails to my bookclub girlfriends. They loved the jars! I wish you'd come visit, and I'd serve you a yummy drink in them, too! :-)

Cheers, Kylee! XOXO!

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